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She needed his cock inside her. Needed to feel the raw, hungry power of him slamming into her. With a whimper, she pressed back against him, her entrance already slick.

‘Holy gods, Thea…’ he muttered, his tip brushing against the need he found there.

She was still half dressed, her breasts aching for contact in the confines of her shirt, and so she freed them herself, squeezing hard, toying with her nipples, arching her back in invitation.

A moan sounded from behind her. ‘That’s the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen…’ Wilder’s voice was hoarse with desire, and he rubbed himself through her wetness.

‘So do something about it.’

The crown of his cock breached her, stretching her, teasing her. Wilder applied pressure, enough to make her moan, but he didn’t seat himself fully. He seemed intent on torturing her, sliding over exactly where she wanted him, again and again.

A gasp escaped her and she bucked her hips impatiently.

‘Play with yourself,’ Wilder growled in her ear. ‘Between your legs. Now.’

His muscular thighs shifted behind her and her hand trailed from her nipple to her clit, circling the pulsing heat she found there. Her body tensed at the delicious sensation, just as Wilder sheathed himself inside her in one rough thrust.

She cried out as he hit that spot deep within, gripping the rail with her free hand.

Wilder’s hands dug into her hips, pulling her back onto each one of his brutal strokes. Thea’s entire body went taut. She tried to spread her legs wider, but her pants around her knees restricted her. She was entirely at his mercy, and the thought made her toes curl.

Wilder fucked her hard, exactly how she wanted. Every time he sank his cock into her, more of the world faded away, leaving only them, moving as one.

Warmth bloomed in her chest, flushing her skin as that intoxicating pressure began to build at the base of her spine, spreading outward. Wilder moaned with her, driving himself into her as though it would never be enough.

His hand closed over hers, guiding her fingers across her clit, increasing their pace.

‘Gods, I love you,’ he murmured desperately into the damp crook of her neck, strumming her mercilessly. ‘This thing between us is endless. Nothing will stop me loving you.’

The cadence of his breathing shifted and his movements became more urgent, his thrusts driving them to the edge of release, as though with each glide of his cock his words would sink deeper.

‘I love you, too.’ Thea gasped as he hit that spot inside her again and pinched her clit, the unexpected sensation sending her barrelling over the precipice of desire, towards her climax.

Thea gave herself over to it, moaning and pushing back onto Wilder, writhing against him as her pleasure crested and she forgot everything except his name, crying for him again and again as he wrung every last ounce of her orgasm from her.

He erupted, driving into her as he found his own release, spilling inside her, collapsing against her back, his whole body trembling.

Panting and raw with emotion, they held each other while they waited for the call of battle.

CHAPTER FORTY

WILDER

The Tverrian battle horns blasted across the golden valleys, and in the fading light, the frontlines of the enemy forces crested a ridge, marching straight for Notos.

Steeling himself, Wilder kissed Thea hard before strapping his swords to his back. ‘I’ll see you at the wall,’ he said.

He met Torj and Vernich on the southern rampart and surveyed the incoming attack. It was still light enough to see that their enemy had come prepared. They carried ladders for the walls and several battering rams.

‘No catapults,’ Torj observed.

‘They won’t need them, not if the wraiths attack from the skies,’ Wilder said. ‘We need to rethink our plan…’

The others looked at him warily.

‘Hawthorne… Bit late for that, isn’t it?’ Vernich muttered, shaking his head.

‘No.’ Wilder scraped the loose hair back from his face and tucked it into the knot at the back of his head. ‘We should divide and conquer.’